Indicating device for typewriters



sept. 9 1924. 1,508,066

J. J. REINHOLD INDICATING DEVICE FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed March lO 19215Elm eimhmli :NVENTDR A-r-rpwysv.

Patented Sept. 9, 1924?.

u mi" 5 T JOHN a. nnrivnonn, or Manieren, rnnnsnvenia.

Application sied March io, i923. serieu no. 624,160.

To all @it/1n t may concern:

Beit knewn that tiene J Heimen), aj citizen'. of the United States, anda. resitiene or Marietta, county of Lancaster, State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new anctuserui Improvements in; indicating4Devices for Typewriters', of which the followingis a specification.

invention relates to an indicating device for typewriters;

'vllie object f this inyention is to eliminate the uncertainty of whenlthe end'- of the sheet is' about to appear yat the point where thewriting is produced', or more particularl-y,A to provide av device whichwill indicate how much ofthe paper remains for further writing,especially when the end of the paper has passed around the platen toapo-int where it cannot bese'en.

This inv'eiiti'oi'i.l resides in the particular consti-uc'tion andcombination ot parts which will be' fully understood from: the

following description, taken in' connection with the accompanyingdrawing', forming a part hereof, and in which similar n'umerals refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views.

Fig. 1, is an end view of a portion of a typewriter, and shows one formof my in vention attached thereto.

Fig. 2, is a plan view of Fig. 1.

In the construction represented in the drawing, the bracket 6 is fixedto the side yframe 7 of the carriage through the screws 8 and 9. Athreaded shaft 15 is carried by the bracket 6 and adapted torotate onthe journals 10 and 11. A spiral gear 12 is fixed to the platen shaft 5and adapted to mesh with the threads 14 of the shaft 15. It is apparentthat if the platen 16 is caused to rotate, the gear 12 will cause thethreaded shaft 15 to rotate.

The bracket 6 is provided with a slot 17 which guides the carriage 18 tomove lengthwise relative to the shaft 15. The carriage 18 carries apointer 19 and a casin 20. A key pin 21 :s adapted to slide verticallyin the casing 20, and the end 22 thereof to engage with the threads 14.The spring 23 is adapted to normally hold the key pin 21 in engagementwith the threads 14.

It is apparent that when the shaft 15 rotates the carriage 18 and theparts carried thereby will move lengthwise relative to the Shaft 15.

The head 4 forms part of the key pin 2l, and provides a Aconvenientmeans where by the end 22 of the key prin may be disengaged with thethreads 14, this being accomplished by pulling the key pin up againstthe 'action of the-spring 23. When the end of the key pin is disengaged.with the threads 14, the carriage 18 including the parts carriedthereby, may be moved lengthwise relative to the shaft 15, andindependent of any rotating movementof the shaft 15.

`The paper guide 24 is graduated as shown at 25; said gra'duationsbeing` adapted to correspond with the graduations shown at 26 en thebracket 6. 1n this particular case these graduations are adapted toindicate inchesof paper, or in other words, theA distance from'thegraduation around the platen to the point where the-writing isproduced.-

To avoid any jamming ofv the carriage 18 against the bracket 6 at theend of its travel,` the shaft 15 is` devoid of threads for a. certaindistance, `as shown'l at 27 and 28; therefore the end `22` of the keypin. be` comes dis'engaged-v with the threads 14 when theicarriage 18reaches the extremepoints,

and movement of the carriage 18 through n the action of the thread 14thereby ceases.

The manipulation of this device is as follows z-The paper is placed inthe type writer in the usual manner, and writing is carried onfuntil theend thereof reaches a point somewhere within the limits of thegraduations 25 on the paper guide. About this time it is usual that thetypist is concerned as to how much paper remains for further writing.This is indicated in inches by the graduations 25; for instance, supposethe end of the paper coincides with the graduation 3%, indicated on thedrawing by the letter (a), this indicates that there is 3% inches ofpaper remaining forv further writing,

Now the key pin 21 is disengaged with the threads 14 and the carriage 18is moved in the slot 17 until the pointer 19 coincides with thegraduation 3% on the scale 26; here the key pin 21 is again engaged withthe threads 14. Writing should now be continued and the typist may atany time note how much paper remains for further writing by observingthe location of the pointer 19; foras the platen 16 rotates to feed thepaper forward, the pointer 19 moves along the scale 26 at the same ratethe paper moves around the platen; and

when the pointer i9 reaches zero on the scale 26, the end i the paper isat the point where the writing is produced.

llt is obvious oi"l course that the graduations 25 and 26 might beadapted to indicate number of lines instead of inches of paper; or theremay be other modiiications in the form of graduations employed.

ln the drawing l have shown the spiral gear i2 ot substantially the samediameter as the platen 16, consequently the pointer i9 will move thesame distance as the paper moves when rotating the platen; however liprefer in actual practice to make said spiral gear smaller than theplaten and ac cordingly reduce the size o1 all other new parts envolvedin the construction of this device; then the pointer i9 will not move asgreat a distance as the paper moves, but the graduations 26 may then bespaced and marked to indicate the actual movement of the paper. lVhilesuch reduction in size is not necessary to the successful operation orthis device, it seems that it provides a device which would beconsidered as more appropriate as a typewriter fixture.

Having thus described my invention, vwhat l claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is as follows:

l. In a printing machine, the combination with a platenv adapted to feeda sheet of paper to the printing elements, of 'a scale adapted to coactwith the end of said paper and indicate the distance from said end tothe point where the printing is produced,

isoaose a gear adapted to rotate through inlovev ment of said platen, athreaded shaii adapted to rotate through rotating movement of said gear,a second scale, the graduations of which corresponds with thegraduations of the iirst said scale, and pointer adapted to move alongsaid second scale through rotating movement oIp said threaded shaft, themovement oi. said pointer relative to said second scale being adapted tocorrespond with the movement of the end of said paper relative to theirst said scale.

2. ln anv indicating device comprising a platen, a spirai 0ear fixed tosaid platen and adapted to rotate therewith, a threaded shai't adaptedto mesh with said spiral gear and rotate through rotating movement oithe gear, a scale, and a pointer adapted to move along said scalethrough rotating movement oi' said threaded shaft.

3. in an indicating device comprising a platen, a spiral gear iiXed tosaid platen and adapted to rotate therewith, a threaded shaft adapted tomesh with said spiral gear and rotate through rotating movement oi thegear, a scale, a pointer adapted to move along said scale throughrotating movement of said threaded shaft, and means for arresting themovement oi' said pointer at the end of said scale.

In testimony whereoiI l aliX my signa ture.

JOHN J, RElNHLD.

CII

